How Far Will You Go?

by Barbara Baldwin

  Kelly always wore tee shirts to work, so she had decided tonight she'd dress up a little. She hadn't been able to pass up the strapless mint-green tube dress when she tried it on at the store. It hugged her curves and stopped at midthigh and apparently it was just sexy enough.

  His fingers traced a circle on the back of her left shoulder. “When'd you get the tattoo?"

  "It was one of those freshman college things,” she answered.

  "Another dare?"

  She grinned, her natural good humor fully restored. “You know me too well."

  "What I want to know is how easy that dress comes off."

  "You said you'd behave."

  "I am.” He looked wounded at her accusation. “If I wanted to misbehave, I wouldn't ask. I'd just pull it right up and over all those curves of yours."

  The music ended at that moment and Kelly pulled away from him, laughing as she headed for the table where she saw Maggie. His comment made her feel all warm and tingly and she was decidedly glad she hadn't left the bar.

  "Grab us some beer,” she called over her shoulder as she slid into a chair next to Maggie, who was talking to the bandleader. Sonny Thompson sat at the table too, along with Cory and Derrick; all guys on the reunion committee.

  "Scott's going to do the reunion,” her friend said excitedly. Kelly assumed Scott was the guy from the band.

  "You sound great,” she nodded. “Do you do anything besides country?"

  "Yeah,” Scott answered, “but country's our best."

  "What's wrong with country?” Cory asked. Cory was a cowboy from the word go and had never ventured far from Dexter and his parents’ ranch, except to ride in the rodeos. The rodeo and a few national champions were Dexter's claim to fame.

  "There's nothing wrong with it, Cory. It's just nice to hear something different for a change."

  "Like what?” Derrick entered the conversation.

  She shrugged. “Like maybe a little blues, or jazz.” Both guys’ mouths dropped open like she had said she liked Lawrence Welk or something.

  "You like jazz, too?” Lou asked as he dragged a chair up beside her and plopped two longneck beers on the table. She scooted over to make room for him. “Where's there a jazz club around here?"

  "There's not, thank God,” Cory grimaced.

  Kelly shook her head at them. “You guys are such hicks.” She turned to Lou. “There's a good club up in Denver called Café Cero. I'll take you up there sometime."

  She watched Cory and Derrick scoot their chairs away from her, acting as if her music tastes might rub off on them. Some things never changed no matter how old guys got.

  "I take it you haven't spent the last ten years within the county lines,” Lou said softly, turning his back on the rest of the table so they could have a somewhat private conversation.

  She shook her head. “Neither have you. What have you been doing? Besides riding in rodeos, I mean."

  He grinned and shrugged. “Riding the circuit. And you?"

  She lifted her beer in salute. “College and a job.” She hoped he wouldn't delve deeper, because she didn't want to tell him she had been a computer analyst with the Pentagon. That sounded way too brainy if he was just a cowboy.

  "Hey, hot stuff, wanna dance?” A rough hand grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to her feet.

  "Back off, jerk.” Lou shot out of his chair and before Kelly knew what was happening, a fight had broken out. She and Maggie quickly moved to the side as Lou landed a blow to the drunk's jaw. He was grabbed from behind, his arms pinned by two other guys.

  "Help him!” She jerked on Sonny's arm, not taking her eyes off Lou. Before Sonny could get up, Lou had done some kind of kung fu or karate moves and all three guys were flat on the bar floor.

  "Doesn't look like he needs help,” Sonny said deadpan and the other guys erupted into laughter.

  She could feel her jaw drop open. Lou plopped down in a chair beside her, looking as if he had just taken a stroll instead of knocking three guys senseless. He wasn't even sweating. The owner and two bouncers came over to haul away the drunks, who were groggily coming around and mumbling about getting hit by a freight train.

  "Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt.” Her heart was still in her throat as her gaze slid over him, looking for wounds.

  "He grabbed you,” Lou answered easily. “That's not right, no matter how drunk you are."

  A warm feeling enveloped her. Having grown up in the women's lib generation, she was used to standing up for herself, although she usually tried to avoid such conflicts. But the woman in her thought it was terribly romantic of him, so she said simply, “Thanks."

  He gave her that lopsided smile of his. “No problem.” He reached up with both hands to brush his hair out of his eyes.

  "Oh my God, you're bleeding!” Blood was soaking through the sleeve of his shirt at an alarming rate. Kelly just knew this man was going to give her a heart attack before it was all said and done. Where just a second ago, her heart had settled into a nice pitter-pat because of his compliment, it now slammed against her ribs in anxiety.

  "Shit.” Lou twisted his arm around to look at it and hollered at Sam. The bartender threw him the bar rag from his shoulder as he hauled the drunk to his feet and Lou wrapped it around the outside of his shirt sleeve.

  "Hey, Sonny, drive me to the hospital, will you?” he said and Kelly thought he sounded way too calm about it. But then he stood and swayed, placing a hand flat on the table.

  "No way. I'll take you.” Kelly stood beside him.

  Lou shook his head. “That's Okay, Sonny can—"

  "Just hush,” she hissed and could feel tears in her eyes.

  Lou opened his mouth.

  "Just shut the hell up, Kincaid."

  She tossed her keys to Maggie and without thinking, dug into his jeans pocket for his. She felt his thigh jerk against her hand and he got that sexy grin on his face.

  "Honey, that feels—"

  "Go,” she ordered, pointing her finger to the exit and she was glad to see he knew better than to argue.

  * * * *

  Kelly paced the waiting room while the doctor examined Lou. He had refused to let her go in with him, and not being a relative, she couldn't exert much weight in the matter. She checked her watch. What was taking so long?

  "Try not to bust those stitches open a second time,” the doctor said as he walked with Lou out to where Kelly stood.

  Stitches? Second time? She looked at Lou but he wouldn't meet her gaze. Hadn't he told her his arm was sprained? She knew for certain he hadn't mentioned stitches. She thought the drunk at the bar had cut him with a beer bottle.

  She thanked the doctor for taking care of him as Lou slung his good arm around her shoulders. She put her arm around his waist as they walked through the doors out into the parking lot.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, nothing a little loving won't fix.” He gave her a wicked grin.

  She thumped him on the stomach with the flat of her hand. “Be serious. Why didn't you tell me you had stitches? What happened?"

  "Just leave it, Kelly. I'm fine.” He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before he turned and climbed into the truck, sagging against the seat.

  Kelly frowned. If Lou had gotten cut, say by a horse's hoof, he would have just said so. The fact that he wouldn't tell her anything made her wonder what kind of trouble he might be in.

  As she drove out of town toward his ranch, she stewed about his secretiveness until finally, she couldn't stand it any longer.

  "Are you awake?” she asked, glancing sideways but not able to tell in the dark. She had turned off the highway onto gravel and there were no street lights.

  "Yeah."

  "Good. Then tell me what's going on. You had me scared to death in the bar when those guys jumped you but you kung fu'd them or whatever so quick, I couldn't follow your movements. Where did you learn to do that?"

  He didn't answer and she hurried on, her anger rising along w
ith her worry. “How could you be so stupid to fight when you already had stitches in your arm? And that brings up another point. Why did you tell me you sprained your arm when you really cut it wide open? I swear, Lou—"

  "Stop the truck, Kelly."

  "What?"

  "Pull over,” he ground out.

  The minute she had the truck stopped, he jerked his door open with his good hand and came around the front. She watched him warily as he opened the driver's side, smacked the headlight button, dropping the area into complete darkness, and grabbed her hand, pulling her from the seat.

  * * * *

  "What in the world?"

  Lou heard Kelly mumble as she tripped along half behind him, but she didn't pull away.

  God, she was making him nuts, he wanted her so bad. She had been so indignant on his behalf when he was jumped at the bar, then angry with him for foolishly reinjuring his arm. He figured she wouldn't have been either if she didn't care for him. She turned him on like no one ever had, and even an injured arm wasn't going to keep him from letting her know it.

  When he reached the back of the truck, he released her hand to lower the tailgate, then turned, circled her waist and lifted her to sit facing him. Before she could voice another protest, his lips captured hers in a hot hard kiss. He wrapped one arm around her waist, leaving his injured arm hanging at his side. When he tugged her closer, she spread her legs as she slid up against him. He deepened the kiss, his tongue darting inside her mouth to tangle with hers. She immediately relaxed into him, her breasts coming against his chest and her arms wrapping around his neck.

  "Damn, Kincaid, why didn't you just tell me to shut up?” She breathed when they finally came up for air.

  "This is much more fun."

  "But your arm?"

  "It's numb and I promise not to bang it up again. Now kiss me."

  Kelly did, with enthusiasm. All her anger and anxiety transferred to passion as she slanted her lips across his. She curled her fingers in his hair, and rubbed her chest against him, wanting to get even closer. His hands were everywhere, igniting fires along the way. His fingers traced a path along her shoulders and down her sides. He cupped her bottom and squeezed.

  "Lift your butt,” he whispered hoarsely between kisses. She did, one cheek then the other, and felt her dress slide up to her waist. His hands were calloused but as he slid them in finite circles on her bare skin, the friction drove her crazy.

  She was no longer content to kiss him just on the lips. She pulled his shirt out of his jeans, tugged on the front and it unsnapped all the way. She had to hand it to western clothes; they were very easy to remove. She began planting hot, wet little kisses down his throat and all over his smooth, hard chest. She tucked her hands into his back pockets and squeezed.

  "Ah, babe,” he breathed into her hair. His hands were on her thighs, sliding higher until he hooked his thumbs under the elastic of her thong. His hands stilled at the juncture of her hips, but his thumbs didn't.

  She sucked in her breath in anticipation as ever so slowly, his thumbs slid over her curls and into her. The electric shock of having him there—both thumbs probing—elicited a groan from her.

  "I want to see you.” His voice was ragged. Kelly didn't think she could speak at all. “Lean back."

  Although reluctant to remove her hands from him, she did as he asked but the minute she sat up straight he took the hem of her dress and slid the whole thing up and off. She could see his eyes gleam in the faint moonlight and it turned her on even more.

  Feeling bold and sexy, she leaned back, propping her hands on the truck bed behind her as his gaze slid up her body.

  "Wow,” he whispered on a breath as he reached out to splay his fingers across her stomach, barely touching her and yet his heat seared her.

  "Lou,” she whispered his name on a sigh and he thought perhaps he had died and gone to heaven without even realizing it. There was want and hunger and passion in that single word and he longed to give her what they both desired. But he had fantasized about her for so long, he wanted to gaze at her; memorize her body so he could replace the fantasy with the real thing.

  "Take your shirt off,” she said, her gaze caressing him and he moved to comply, hissing when he jerked the sleeve down his injured arm.

  She immediately straightened. “You're hurt. Maybe we shouldn't do this."

  He threw the ruined shirt into the pickup and wrapped his good arm around her tight, bringing her chest snug against his own.

  "No way, baby. I'm too far gone.” To prove his intent, he pulled her bottom to the edge of the tailgate and she locked her legs around him. He rubbed his erection against her mound and she gasped.

  Holding her firm against him with one arm, he licked and kissed a path across the top of her breasts, concealed behind a lacy strapless bra. “Take it off."

  She reached behind her and unhooked it, slowly pulling it off. Before she was even completely uncovered, Lou bent his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth. It pebbled beneath his tongue. His ears roared with the rush of blood through his body, but above that noise, he heard her cry out. She hugged his head to her breast with one hand and the other fumbled between them, trying to unfasten his jeans. It was a tight fit with him pinning her against his cock, but she managed to get him unzipped and slid her hand inside to squeeze him.

  It was his breaking point. However long he had hoped to prolong the sweet agony of seducing her, the instant she touched him, his control snapped.

  But he was not alone. Kelly's hand stroked him long and hard and when he switched to give her other breast equal attention, her strokes quickened.

  "Easy, baby, I can't handle much more."

  "Now,” she begged, sliding her hands under the band of his boxers and pushing them and his jeans off his hips. She then tugged him closer, locking her legs around him and Lou could feel the heat of her with his cock; feel her wet femininity. He leaned forward, both hands on the tailgate to give him some leverage to hold off the pull of her legs. He sucked air in between his teeth as a shaft of pain shot up his arm. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning out loud.

  He tried to block out the pain with her body, rubbing against her, trailing a dozen nipping kisses from her shoulder to her ear.

  "Lou, please,” she moaned when he kissed her jaw. Because he couldn't trust himself to speak, he sealed her plea with his lips, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, mimicking what he was going to do to her body very, very soon. As she met him with her tongue, the pain subsided. Either that or he couldn't think about it with her tongue mating with his.

  With one hand, he managed to get her panties off and then slipped a finger deep into her.

  "Yes,” she moaned as her hips bucked.

  He could smell the very essence of her, the heavy, potent scent of woman. She reached for him again and he took a half step back, fumbling with his good hand in his jeans.

  "Wait. I need a condom.” His hand trembled as she captured his erection again with her soft hand.

  "No, you don't,” she said, “I'm on the pill."

  "Sweetheart, I always wear a condom."

  She stiffened and her hand stilled. “Always? As in all the time? Often?"

  Even in the midst of passion hotter than he could stand, Lou grinned at the jealousy he heard in her voice. Score another point for him. Lou ripped the package with his teeth and started rolling on the condom.

  "As in whenever I have sex.” He gave her an evasive answer, and then couldn't help but add, “And the frequency is none of your business.” And then there was no more talking as he thrust into her.

  Kelly could do nothing except hold on for the ride as Lou took her in long sure strokes, reaching deep inside to her very core. She'd had sex since college, although not often, but she now realized it was just that. Sex had been the guy seeing to his pleasure and if she happened to come, too, that was all well and good.

  But now, Lou was making love to her; waking a passion in her
that she didn't realize she had, and giving of himself one hundred percent. And as in the last time they were together, he saw to her pleasure first. He slowed his strokes until he barely moved within her, although she could feel him pulse against her inner muscles. Then he bent down and sucked on her breast as his thumb found the nub of her pleasure. Almost instantly, she felt herself tighten; knew her orgasm was close.

  Lou must have felt it too, for he breathed against her breast. “Are you with me, babe?” as he exerted a little more pressure just so.

  "Oh, God, yes!” She arched her back and he thrust his hips hard, then harder still, all the time tormenting her with his thumb.

  She screamed as she shattered, but this time, Lou didn't stop her because he was echoing her wildness, calling out in a loud, hoarse voice. He thrust one last time, fused with her heat and climaxed—long, hot, and beyond anything he had ever experienced.

  Lou felt his legs tremble as he came back down to earth. But even as he stayed locked in Kelly's embrace and his heart slowed to a semi normal beat, he was still dizzy and he swayed against her.

  She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. He could feel her, but he couldn't feel her warmth, and when he tried to focus on her face, all he could see was a blurry outline. He felt himself start to fall.

  "Kelly?"

  Kelly took one look at Lou's face and knew it wasn't euphoric aftermath that had him swaying into her arms.

  "Lou!” She shook him slightly and he tried to straighten, but he wasn't very steady.

  She managed to scoot out from under him and hop down from the tailgate while propping him up. Neither of them had cell phones on them so it was up to her to get them home. She was stark naked and didn't even know if she could find all her clothes, but the first thing she had to do was get Lou into the truck. If he passed out on her, she would never be able to lift him.

  "Come on, Lou, help me out here.” She put his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist. When he started to walk she realized his jeans were still down around his knees but she dared not let go of him, so she grabbed a belt loop until they could wobble to the cab.

  "I don't feel so good,” he managed to say.